


Constellations

by manchester_macchiatos



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bucket List, Domestic Fluff, Headcanon, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Oblivious Keith (Voltron), Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Orphan Keith, Outer Space, POV Keith (Voltron), Slow Burn, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Space Nerd! Keith, Tattoos, but what did you expect like cmon, i might make a list someday, implied shallura, oh theres language too, so many headcanons tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-11 19:49:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7905373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manchester_macchiatos/pseuds/manchester_macchiatos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shiro laughs and walks up behind me, clapping me on the back. “Whatever you say. This must be quite different for you.”<br/>“You have no fucking idea.”<br/>-<br/>Keith doesn't socialize often, if ever... so when Lance crashes into his life like an asteroid it shakes him up and turns him around. He used to spend day in day out mapping the stars and researching space, but when he meets Lance he's forced put all of that aside and start living. Keith doesn't understand him, but feels a compelling need to. So he does everything he can to do so.<br/>It turns out that they are a lot more alike than they thought possible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Orion

**Author's Note:**

> TUMBLR TAG: ficconstellations  
> Please feel free to post to this tag :)

The way that I look at it, there is only two ways to live your life.   
  
You either go with the flow and deal with everything as it happens, or you be a complete and utter tightass about everything. I’m the latter, and I’m not exactly proud of it.   
  
I may be the world’s biggest tightass, but I also want to be the best that I can be. For most of my life I’ve been shunned and left at the metaphorical altar of life- despite me putting in my best efforts to be likable and overall  _ great _ . I wanted to be the one that everyone looked up to and depended on.   
  
When I decided to quit school at the end of my junior year, I wanted to turn a new leaf and be everything that I’d always wanted in my life. Someone who was dependable, caring and a role model. So I decided to make a promise to myself that was  _ forever _ .   
  
I designed a tattoo that showed who I was striving to be- a tattoo that was beautiful, discreet and seemingly normal to whoever may happen to see it. I designed a tattoo that was so tiny, but held all the meaning in the world to me.   
  
The constellation Orion has always fascinated me. I spent days on end looking up the mythology behind it, understanding it and finding out what each and every culture thought it meant.   
  
Orion was a Greek warrior, with strength, power, and followers. I saw more than that within him. I saw a leader, someone to look up to and aim to be. Someone that I truly  _ wanted _ to be. But the main thing that pulled me towards the constellation were the three bright stars.   
  
Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, and Rigel. Some of the brightest stars in the sky, and the three most prominent lights of Orion. All important parts of the constellation, but they never connected and met each other halfway.   
  
These three stars reminded me of my parents.

They died when I was a baby, I have no recollection of them at all. I was orphaned at the age of 18 months, and raised in multiple children’s homes. My relationship with them is very much like the relationship between the three stars of Orion. They never connect, yet they are part of the same constellation.   
  
It’s for these reasons that I got my friend, Shiro, to give me a tattoo on my upper left chest of the constellation Orion. It is tiny and hardly noticeable, and it means the world and more to me. It’s a promise to myself that I will become the person that I have always strived to be, whilst also paying my respects to my late parents. The tattoo is my most prized possession, and I refuse to let it fade.   
  
Back to the two ways of living life.

Tightass. Dumbass.   
  
I am a tightass. I’d rather stay inside learning than going out to a party and getting pissed. I don’t talk about my emotions, I internalise everything I am feeling in order to keep my emotions from being hurt. And it works! It’s just not the best way to live. I can understand that, but I can’t change. Why? I don’t know. And I don’t care.   
  
I also keep to myself in every way. I don’t let anyone in, I make sure that there is no possible reason that anyone would want to talk to me. Headphones in, music up. Bring a book, sit in the corner… only use self-checkouts at the grocery store. It’s a way of life that I have mastered.

If you’re not a tightass, then you’re a dumbass. You’re the type of person that I don’t understand, and will most likely not get along with. Constantly hitting on people, going to parties and enjoying life in general. You’re a natural social butterfly, and you don’t get embarrassed easily. You do a backflip over the obstacles that life throws at you, and laugh in the face of pain.   
  
It’s unbelievable.   
  
I may sound like a complete jerk at the moment, but I need to categorize people. It helps me learn about the person as a whole. I’m not saying that if I see you flirting with someone without having a breakdown you’re instantly a ‘dumbass’ in my eyes. You may be a great person to hang around with. I just find it really hard to hang around with people like that. The last time I did I was dragged into so many crazy social situations that I couldn’t deal with.   
  
So for that reason, I choose to stay in my apartment with my music, books and telescope. Nobody comes to visit, and I’m not obligated to go out and see family because I don’t really have one.   
  
It’s just easier this way.   
  
  
\-----   
  
  
“No.”   
  
“Keith. Just this once, please!”   
  
That is Shiro’s go-to line when he wants me to go to the coffee shop with him. I have fallen for it before, he always begs and pleads until I give in- mostly just because I want him to shut up. You’d think that an introvert like me would be able to cope with being in a quiet little coffee shop. I thought I’d be able to as well, until I learned how easily Shiro draws attention.

He doesn’t do it purposely. All the little kids like to point and ask about the scar that runs across his nose; he’d always tell them excitedly that he was attacked by a ninja, or that it happened when he was doing a backflip on his motorbike… whatever interesting story he could come up with on the fly. It was one of his many talents.

Then he’d have all of the waitresses on shift at his knees, giving him whatever he wanted with every possible discount applied. He was a naturally attractive man, so it happened wherever he went. I should have expected it.   
  
Then there was his drinking sound. All the middle aged men getting their caffeine fix before a day at the office would be turned around, glaring at the back of Shiro’s head, as he unknowingly made the most ungodly sounds whilst drinking his coffee.   
  
The stares, waitresses, and loud children combined equated to my worst nightmare, and I couldn’t bare to go to the coffee shop with Shiro ever again. So many people paying attention to me or whomever I’m with is  _ way _ above getting murdered in a back alley on my list of fears.

“Shiro, you know I can’t bear it.” Pressing the speaker button on my phone, I sit up on my bed and scratch at the scabs on my arm. That’s what you get for dropping a heavy telescope on yourself. I sigh, and tug my shirt off, chucking it on my pillow.   
  
Shiro’s voice rings out from the speaker, a pleading tone lacing his voice. “You need to get used to it! How are you ever going to get a partner if you can’t even go outside?”   
  
I roll my eyes, despite knowing he can’t see. He should have known me long enough to know that it’s what I would do. I stand up and look around at my studio apartment, hoping to find some meaning in actually participating in life today.   
  
“Don’t you roll your eyes at me, Kogane.”   
  
I smirk, and turn around to pick up the phone, taking it with me to the kitchen area. “I’m sorry Shiro, but I really cannot come today. I have  _ heaps _ to do.” I grab a mug, and start pressing the buttons on my coffee machine. The grinder starts, and I can hear Shiro groaning.   
  
“I cannot believe you’re making a coffee right now.” I laugh, and set the phone down so I could start frothing the milk. “What important things are you doing today anyway?” I open my mouth ready to reply, when he interrupts me. “Wait- I know. It’s the star chart thing again isn’t it?”   
  
“... yeah.” I press the button, and watch as the milk starts spinning in the machine, frothing up to the perfect temperature for a morning latte. “It’s coming along really well by the way. Thanks for asking.”   
  
“You didn’t give me a chance to.” He sighs, and the sounds of doors opening and closing come through the receiver. “I’ll come over later this week and have a look at it.”   
  
“Sure, there’ll be lots more to see hopefully.” I finish making the coffee and make my way to my balcony facing the opposite apartment building. It’s a clear day today, no clouds at all. Lucky for me; it means I can keep on mapping later tonight. This weather just has to keep up. I set the coffee and phone down on my balcony table, and sit back in my sun chair.   
  
“Hey, Keith.”   
  
“Yeah?”   
  
“You what’s more fun than spending day in day out researching space and drawing dots?” I raise my eyebrows, and keep listening. As far as I know, there is nothing more fun than keeping to myself and not having to pretend to like bar music. “Having a social life and occasionally going outside.”   
  
“Hmm… nah.” I smile, and lean back, making myself comfortable. I hear Shiro laugh on the other end.   
  
“I’m going to the cafe now. I’ll catch up with you soon.”   
  
“Okay then, see you later.”   
  
“Bye!” He drags out the ‘e’, like he always does when we talk, and then the tone rings out as he hangs up.   
  
I look out at the main road to my right, and watch as a far away Shiro crosses the road and enters the cafe between our apartment buildings, tripping over the doormat and hitting his head on the low doorframe as he did.   
  
“Dumbass.”   
  
  
\-----   
  
  
I was just sitting back and relaxing when I saw him.

I have my NASA handbook open on the coffee table, with my notebook sitting on top of it with writing sprawled everywhere. I was never the student with the neatest handwriting, but it wasn’t so bad that you couldn’t read it. Lots of girls got impressed by the way that I curled the letters. 

My laptop is resting on my thighs, an article about theories behind the colors of the moon on the screen. A podcast about space is playing through my headphones; it was one that I listened to every week, it was like a ritual to me.   
  
My eyes had started stinging from reading articles online for hours on end, so I decided to look up from my laptop to let them rest. That was when I looked at the apartment directly opposite me, and into the room visible through the balcony.   
  
The boy is standing up on his lounge, jumping up and down and dancing to a song I can’t hear. His short brown hair flops around to match the rhythm of his jumps. The thing that stands out most?   
  
His complete lack of clothes.

He has no shirt or pants on, just some high sports socks and striped red and black boxers. The worst part? I can’t bring myself to look away. It is by far one of the strangest sights that I have ever seen. At that point, I can only think of one word. _Dumbass._   
  
I pull my headphones off my head to listen to the song reverberating out of his balcony and back to mine. The tune is so familiar, but I just can’t put my finger on what it is. I pick my laptop up off my thighs, and place it down on the table beside me. Standing up, I go to the edge of my balcony and listen in close.  
  
 _It’s so damn familiar._  
  
Despite my efforts to hear the song this _astronomically idiotic dumbass_ is listening to, the tune just couldn’t register in my mind. I watch on as he bounces from his lounge to what looks like an ottoman, and then steps down onto the floor. He skips over to a cabinet, and then his head disappears behind the doors.  
  
I stand at the balcony, dumbfounded. I didn’t even know before now that someone lived there. A few weeks ago I had noticed the ‘For Sale’ banner disappear, but I never saw any signs of there being a resident. But then again, I never actively looked.  
  
The brown haired boy’s head reappeared, and I noticed that the music was turned up even louder. He was already back to dancing on the lounge, singing out loudly to the song. What I was hearing him singing was only loud enough to be considered background music to the average person, so I could only imagine what his neighbors were going through. Did he not know that he was in an apartment complex? _Dude, everyone can hear you right now._

The tune picked up, and suddenly everything started registering in my head. It was a band that I liked years ago... he’s listening to one of their more recent songs.   
  
“And I don’t care WHY!”   
  
He started doing one of the dumb dance moves that you learn as a kid, the water-sprinkler or whatever it was called nowadays. It looks so dumb. So very dumb.   
  
Despite this, I still find myself tapping my foot along to the tune and mouthing the lyrics.   
  
“This apartments so cold. London can TRY!”   
  
_ He’s so off tune. _

“It’ll never swallow me whole. And I- swear!”  
  
I started singing the chorus as well, rocking my shoulders. It is a good song, one of my favorites from earlier in the year. His taste isn’t so bad.  
  
“We could be gigantic, everything I need. Vicodin on Sunday nights. This could be worth the risk, worth the guarantee. This could be the drug that doesn’t bite, just Give Me A Try.”  
  
I start repeating the lyrics, when the boy’s head turns over and looks me directly in the eye. _Uh oh._ _  
_ __  
My instant reaction is to duck down and sit on the tiles, hyperventilating. Thankfully I’m concealed by the edge of my balcony, a concrete block tall enough to hide my crouching body. He can’t have seen me, my reflexes are sharper than a nail. That’s what I have to tell myself in order to keep some of my dignity.  
  
Suddenly, the song paused, and there was complete silence save for the humming of my overworked laptop and the busy road beside the complex. I hold my breath for the fear of him hearing me.  
  
Slowly, I reach into my pocket to grab my phone, turning it on and looking at the time. 12:51pm. The best thing I can do in this situation is hold out for a little bit, just to make sure he’s gone. I relax my back against the concrete behind me, and look into my apartment. Suddenly, I’m hyper aware of how open it is, and the fact that he could see every nook and cranny of my living space.   
  
It’s the first time that I’d actually consider that I should probably move the children’s model space shuttle hanging from my fan to a different part of the room. It’s one that I’d had when I was a child, and I’d taken it to every orphanage and home that I had lived it. It was one of the very few possessions that I kept from those days.  


Surveying the scene that is my studio, I can see a mirror on the top right corner of my balcony. In its curvature I can see the boy’s balcony. He’s leaning over the edge, still looking directly at the space above me. I decide to shuffle to the corner where my table is, at least then I could grab my notebook for some form of entertainment while I’m stuck here, waiting the situation out. 

I look back in the reflection of the mirror, and notice that he is still there, narrowing his eyes at my apartment, scanning over the scene. It’s terrifying… I can see him judging me based entirely off what I own. He is obviously assuming who I am as a person based off my  _ material possessions.  _   
  
It is at that point that I realize I had already fucked up any chance I had at making sure this guy didn’t hate me.   
  
His eyes start scaling across the length of my balcony, and then pause directly on the mirror.  _ Oh fuck abort abort ABORT ABORT. _ _   
_ __   
Standing up, I know that the only thing I can do is hide and hope for the best. Bolting straight inside, I turn the corner into my study area so that I am completely out of the view of the brown haired boy. Peeking my head out the end of the wall, I lock eyes with him. He’s raising one eyebrow, and smirking.   
  
He shouts out at me, “You saw nothing!” then turns around and walks inside his apartment, shutting the glass doors to his balcony and drawing the blinds.   
  
I stood there, completely stunned. What just happened?   
  
  
\-----   
  
  
7.00pm that night, and the sun had fully disappeared. Thankfully, the day had stayed completely cloudless, and that trend continued during the night. The stars sprinkled over the night sky, creating patterns and constellations. I already had my portable telescope set up, as well as my notebook and laptop. It was time to continue charting.   
  
Ever since I moved into my apartment last year, I had been making a huge piece of wall art. I installed black removable wallpaper to the largest wall in my apartment, and most nights I would stay up for hours just looking at the stars, and marking them on my star chart. Orion was the center of the piece, and I mapped out the rest of the stars in their corresponding places around it. I named the important stars, and drew lines to form constellations. It was the biggest project I’d done in my entire life, and one of the things that I was most proud of.   
  
Space is my passion, and having it cover my apartment means it’s one of the only places in the world that I can admit I am comfortable being in. The little studio apartment that I live in is the first place to ever feel like a home to me.   
  
It turns 10.00pm, and stars are filling every empty space in the night sky. I have tons of new dots to put on my star chart, which means that I going to be so much closer to finishing after tonight. I mark a small constellation in my notebook; writing some small, rushed notes about it; and then move inside to dot the stars into their rightful place on my wall. Picking up my paintbrush, I turned it around and dipped the handle in white paint; using it as a dotting tool. It is a delicate art, and I want the circles on the installation to be as perfect as possible.   
  
That’s my tightass-ery coming in again.   
  
I finish the dotted formation, and walk back out to the balcony. It takes me a few minutes to notice the brown haired boy watching me from his balcony.   
  
I jump, and hold my notebook tight to my chest. He smiles, and waves. He opens his mouth, and says something, but I can’t make out what it was. I shrug, and then raise my eyebrows at him. His eyes widen, and he sticks up one finger. Turning around, he disappears into the depths of his apartment.   
  
He’s been in my life for a total of 10 minutes, and already he’s shocked me about 5 times.   
  
When the boy reappears, he has an A3 sketchpad and a marker. I watch closely as he takes the marker to the page, and starts writing- I can’t believe what’s happening. It’s like 2009 Taylor Swift all over again. He holds up a huge note, reading “Just some casual star-gazing?” in a very messy variation of cursive. I notice that he puts a circle over his ‘i’s’ instead of dotting them.

I nod, and smile. I can’t help it, it’s just such a strange situation. I never thought I would be passing notes (okay, not so much ‘passing’ as ‘showing’) to my not-quite neighbour. Besides, maybe he likes space too? I pick up my pen, and move my head back to the eyepiece of my telescope, moving the barrel ever so slightly, so as to see a different set of stars. I start marking them in my notebook again, when I see movement from the opposite balcony.   
  
The boy is holding out another letter, simply stating “Nerd” with a little smiley face. I roll my eyes, and turn around to go and paint some more dots on the star chart. So now he’s making fun of me for star-gazing? I can’t read this guy at all! He’s obviously incredibly sassy, and not easily embarrassed. But he also seems a little bit withdrawn and cautious. I turn to look back at his balcony where he was still standing, watching me. I raise my eyebrows, and he turns around quickly, disappearing back into his apartment.   
  
Very cautious.   
  
The thing that annoys me the most about him is I can’t tell if he is a tightass or a dumbass. He isn’t fitting into either of my categories. It never takes me this long to know which category someone belongs in.   
  
Obviously, I just don’t know him well enough at this point. I sigh, and go back to dotting the little stars on the black background.   
  
  


\-----

  
  


For the couple of hours that followed, I just couldn’t stop thinking about the guy. He doesn’t fit. He is an outlier and it’s annoying me to my very core. I keep trying to forget it, but I just can’t.   
  
I don’t even know his name.   
  
He is a mystery to me, and I need to know more.   
  



	2. 20 Before 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Keith. Oh my goodness.” Lance moves his head into his hands, and shudders. “I can’t let you live your life like this.” He picks up the plate resting on his lap, and moves it to a tiny table sitting on the corner of his balcony. He walks back to the edge of the balcony, and looks me right in the eyes. “Are you free?”

Sunday is my favourite day of the week. It’s when the world is at its quietest, and it’s probably the most productive yet calming day. Everyone is either taking a day off from partying and working to just have some time to themselves, or their getting themselves ready for the working week that starts the next day. The main road beside my apartment it quiet and the cafe and stores are empty. The apartments usually stay very quiet on Sundays, but this Sunday was an exception.   
  
The apartment in the building directly opposite me is bustling with movement. The empty lounge room that I had looked at just the day before was now filled with cardboard boxes and Ikea crates. The Boy (who I still don’t know the name of for some reason), was moving back and forth between the stack of cardboard boxes and other parts of his apartment. His music is blasting through his open balcony doors, and the wide range of genres was driving me crazy. There was no order, no particular trend. Why did he have to have his playlist like that?   
  
I stay inside for most of Sunday. The temperature was so high at midday, and sitting out on the balcony would have been too much for me; the less comfort you’re in, the less work you get done. And I am all about productivity. Despite the heat, I keep the balcony doors open and sit right next to the opening instead. I like having the occasional cold draft fly in, as sometimes my one ceiling fan and multiple pedestal fans just aren’t enough.   
  
At the sun starts going down, I find myself peering out the glass doors to my balcony to inspect The Boy’s living room more and more. The pile of boxes that was there in the morning has lost a good half of its original size, and The Boy is now sitting back watching TV. I can’t see what he’s watching, but it’s obvious that he’s into it. Realising that I’ve been watching him doing his thing for too long makes me turn back to the blog post I’m reading. If he catches me watching him constantly he’s going to get the wrong idea. I am in no way a stalker.   
  
He just  _ interests _ me.   
  
Not even 5 minutes later I catch myself watching him again. He gets up from the lounge, and moves to the back of the room. He disappears from my vision momentarily, when a light is turned on. He’s standing at the end of a kitchen island, one hand on a light switch and his eyes boring into my very soul.   
  
How often is this going to happen before I learn from it?   
  
I play it off as if it was nothing, pretending I was looking at something else completely. I quickly turn back to my laptop and act as if the contents on my screen are the most engrossing things my eyes have ever seen. I stare at the screen for a solid minute before I take a chance at looking in his direction again. When I do, I see him moving with a certain grace around the kitchen, emptying jars and packets into pots and pans. He’s obviously cooking, and he seems to have some knowledge as to what he’s doing as well.   
  
I can respect a man that knows how to cook. I don’t know how to cook myself, but I have a valid excuse. I never really had anyone teach me how to cook- I took Home Ec. when I was in Grade 10, but that’s the extent of my knowledge. If Shiro ever comes over for dinner I normally just cook him spaghetti bolognese; that’s the only real meal I can cook that isn’t a cheese toastie or 2 minute noodles. I was thrown into this whole ‘adulting’ thing way too quick, so I should get brownie points for knowing anything at all.   
  
The Boy seems to cook to the beat of his music. I don’t know if it’s just me imagining it, or if he’s doing it purposefully. He steps around his kitchen with an elegant manner, the movements seeming natural to him. The whole time he’s smiling, and singing along to his music. He has it at a low enough volume tonight that I can’t work out what song it is, and I’m really not willing to risk my overall dignity as a human trying to work out what he’s listening to. I don’t need another awkward memory to keep me up at night. Yesterday’s should last me a few years.   
  
He spends an hour dancing around his kitchen cooking, and I spend an hour pretending that I care about whatever’s on my screen. It was as if watching him sent me into a trance. He had caught me staring a few times, but he didn’t seem at all bothered by it. To me that was like a personal invitation to continue.   
  
At 7pm he’d finished cooking, and the scent that was drifting through the doors of my balcony was making me salivate. I hadn’t smelt something that good in ages. The last time that I had a proper home cooked meal must have been months ago... when I last left my apartment to visit Shiro.  _ I need to get out more. _   
  
I decided to pick up my stuff and move onto the balcony. Sitting just inside it made me feel as if I was missing out on even more flavors floating through the air. I set my laptop down on the table, and opened up my notebook. I started listing all the constellations visible in the night sky, like I did every Sunday. I liked tracking the movement of the sky and Earth, it was just a simple pass-time.  It didn’t take me very long to make a list of all the constellations I saw, it was a habit that I had grown into quite quickly in my 7 months of living in the apartment.   
  
When I looked up from my now completed list, I was pulled back to the reality of exactly where I was, and who was watching me.    
  
He had turned the music off, and he was now watching me intently whilst scooping food into his mouth. He seemed quite interested in what I was doing, I could tell by the look in his eyes. Despite being around 20 feet away from me, I felt as if he was right next to me, reading the notes over my shoulder. It was a scary feeling, but not a bad one. When he spoke I could hear him clearly as ever.   
  
“It’s really quiet out here.” He dug his fork back into the pile of food, and stuffed a mouthful of rice and meat into his mouth. He swallows his food, then turns back to look at me, waiting for a reply.   
  
I don’t know what to do or say. I  really wasn’t expecting to ever have a full conversation with this boy, and suddenly being flung into a ‘casual chat’ is making my heart race. I’d always been bad with talking to new people, but this time it was different. I mean- c’mon. He knows that I watch him dancing semi-naked and making his dinner. I can’t just have a ‘casual chat’ with him.   
  
I clear my throat, and try at forming something that resembles a sentence. “Who are your name?”   
  
I feel my whole world cave in and my eyes shut tight. As the boy starts laughing softly, I wish for the ground beneath my feet to suck me into its depths and smother me to death.  I can’t cope with this public humiliation anymore.   
  
“Do you wanna try that again?” The Boy is smiling at me, not in a teasing way, which I find surprising. He seems to be genuinely interested in talking to me.   
  
“I’m sorry… I meant to ask what your name was?” I didn’t even stutter.   
  
_ I’d like to thank the orphanages and all my previous foster families… I would never be here now if it wasn’t f- _ _   
_ _   
_ “My name is Lance. Lance McClain.”   
  
He’s smiling at me now, once again hoping for a reply. I clear my throat, and beg to the stars above that I don’t fuck up again. “I’m Keith Kogane… it’s nice to meet you.” I smile, and try to act as if it was normal for me to speak clearly and in a way that was legible to the average human being.   
  
“Nice to meet you as well!” His eyes start wandering to my notebook and the things surrounding me. When he sees the telescope aimed at the sky, he grins and points at it. “So, space huh? Are you an astronomer of some sorts?”   
  
There it is. “No, it’s just a weird little hobby I guess. I love space.” Just thinking about it made me smile, and when I see him smiling as well I felt a spot of hope growing inside me.   
  
“Space is pretty awesome.” He is grinning at me so widely, and bouncing up and down in his seat. “I wish I could afford a telescope like that… it’s pretty neat!”   
  
“Thanks! It was supplied to me by…” I can’t just go into my financial and familial state straight up… I don’t know Lance that well. “Doesn’t matter.” Lance seemed unfazed by my little slip-up, he was instead staring up at the sky and smiling. It’s good to know that I’m not the only person in the world that’s obsessed with space.   
  
“You watch me.”   
  
It came out of nowhere. He was still staring up at the nothingness of the sky when he said it, completely calm and acting as if me watching him constantly was normal. I on the other hand- I couldn’t stop my face from going red.   
  
The only thing that I could think to do was defend myself from the oncoming barrage of questions that I should have been expecting. “I don’t watch you… I just stare out my window a lot… looking for- uh…”   
  
“If you’re looking for your remaining dignity you’re not going to find it.” Lance looked down from the sky, and linked his eyes with mine whilst smirking. “It’s loooong gone.”   
  
My mouth was just sitting agape, completely shocked that he said to me. He is such a little shit.   
  
“Hey! You hardly even know me! You can’t just say shit like that.” I’m glaring at nothing now, just choosing to focus on random pieces of architecture. “Besides… I have plenty of dignity.”   
  
“And I know you a lot better than you think.” Lance winked, and scooped another mouthful of meat and rice into his mouth. What the hell could he mean by that? We are only having our first real conversation now, and we learned each other’s names no more than 5 minutes ago. He read my facial expression, and realised that what he just said warranted an explanation. “When I found out you were watching me yesterday I went to your apartment help desk and found out your name, age and phone number.”   
  
“WHAT?” I feel so bad. I weirded him out so much that he had to find out shit about me so he can report me? That is a new level of creepy that I have just entered, and I am not proud of it. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to be a weirdo… I was just wondering who it was because I hadn’t seen anyone living in that apartment for months-”   
  
“It’s fine! It’s fine.” He looked at me with two hands up in the air, as if surrendering. “I just wanted to know who you are so I could strike up a conversation.” He winked at me, and I sunk down in my seat, defeated. Lance is strange. “I’ve always wanted to go to a field somewhere- preferably in Canada because it's in the North and nice and cold- and I just want to lie down on a random field and look at the stars all night.”   
  
As Lance spoke he stared at the night sky, smiling in a way that I can’t even begin to describe. He just looked so peaceful and happy. It’s calming to look at, but at the same time it gives me the weirdest feeling in my stomach. It feels as if the weight of the world is falling into my bowel and trying to push me down through the floor beneath me.   
  
“Have you got anything space related on your bucket list?”   
  
Lance’s voice brings me back to the present, and I meet eyes with him through the gap. He’s still smiling, but it’s a strange smile. It looks as if he’s uncomfortable, unsure of something. It’s starting to dawn on me just how strange this whole situation is. It’s not everyday that you speak to a complete stranger about your life goals over a gap between two buildings.   
  
“No… I don’t have a bucket list at all. I’ve never really thought to create one I guess.” I don’t want to tell him the real reason as to why I don’t have one. When I was 12 years old I tried to write one, but I soon worked out that with the situation I was in, it was going to be near impossible for me to complete it. I don’t want to start something that I know I can’t complete- it’s pointless and a complete waste of my time. I could be doing much better things with my life than trying to fill out a petty bucket list. “I don’t really have any ‘life goals’ at the moment.”   
  
“Keith. Oh my goodness.” Lance moves his head into his hands, and shudders. “I can’t let you live your life like this.” He picks up the plate resting on his lap, and moves it to a tiny table sitting on the corner of his balcony. He walks back to the edge of the balcony, and looks me right in the eyes. “Are you free?”   
  
I feel my face flush, and my palms get sweaty.  Is he going to ask me to hang out with him sometime soon? I can’t hang out. I don’t hang out. Nope nopity nope.   
  
“When?”   
  
_ What have I fucking done now. _ _   
_ _   
_ “Now.  _ Right now.” _ _   
_ _   
_ I open my eyes even more, and just stare at him for a second. Is he kidding? The gleam in his eyes tell me he isn’t, so I look down at my watch. “It’s 8pm.”   
  
“Congratulations, you can read a watch. So, _ are you free? _ ”   
  
“I- I guess so?” I cannot believe this is happening right now. I barely know this guy.   
  
“Awesome!” He grins widely, and leans dangerously far over the edge of the balcony, consumed by excitement alone. “So- are you coming to my place or am I coming to yours?”   
  
Oh my god. Are we really doing this? I haven’t had anyone that wasn’t Shiro over at my place since I moved in- and that is a long time. I look into my apartment, and see that it is clean as usual, as well as just looking overall appealing to be in. He would like to see the star-chart, I bet- what am I thinking? I can’t just let him into my apartment! What if he murders me?   
  
I look up at the stars, begging for them to give me a sign that will tell me what to do. Suddenly, I see a shooting star streak across the constellation Orion. Well then.   
  
_ Fuck. _

 

“You can come to my place, you already know what room I’m in. I’ll ring you up.” Looking at his eyes widen and brighten significantly makes me break out laughing. This whole night is so crazy, and from what I can tell it’s about to get even crazier.   
  
  
\-----   
  
  
“Holy shit.”   
  
Lance is standing in the door frame, frozen. He’s looking around the whole apartment with an open mouth, taken by surprise. “Your place is so clean… how do you do that? And you really do know how to design a living area for a studio apartment- I could really use some help with that.”   
  
He continues to blabber while I pull him out of the way of the door, closing it behind him once I’d pushed him into the main living area. When I turn around I see that he is sat on the lounge staring at the star-chart. I had a feeling that he would like it.   
  
His mouth is still agape, and the look on his face is one of pure shock. He’s blinking slowly, taking it all in. “Is this what you’ve been working on? That night- last night when I called you a nerd- you were making this?”   
  
I nod, and sit down on the lounge across from him. “Yeah, I’ve worked on it most nights for about 6 months now. It’s also to scale, for the most part. There are probably a few inconsistensi-”   
  
Lance holds his hand out towards me, shutting me up. “Keith.” He motions towards the wall, shaking his head. “This is  _ amazing _ . I have never known someone that could work on something as crazy as this without going crazy themselves.”   
  
I smile, and shrug my shoulders. “I have gone a little bit crazy.” I stand up, making my way to the fridge to grab some refreshments. “It’s not the easiest task in the world, I’m not going to lie. I’m pretty proud of myself for getting this far.” I pick out two large glasses and fill them with water. “At the rate that I’m going this should be done in the next month or so.” I walk the glasses over to the small table in front of Lance, and put one of the waters in front of him. He stops staring at the wall to say thank you, and then turns to look over at me.   
  
“Okay, we need to talk about your life goals. Not having a bucket list when you’re 17 years old is absolutely criminal, and I cannot believe that you could live your life like that.” Lance reaches into the jacket he’s wearing, and pulls out a little blue book. “I’ve brought my bucket list with me so you can have something to base yours off. You might need to go onto the internet to find more ideas though- there’s plenty of Pinterest boards out there to fuel all your needs in life.”   
  
I sigh, and scratch the back of my neck. This is going to be a fun night. If it doesn’t end up getting extremely existential at any point then I am going to be amazed. I can’t think a month into the future without having a slight aneurysm.    
  
Standing up, I make my way over to the balcony to grab my laptop, and then return to sit next to Lance on the lounge. He’s already leaning over the little blue book, and scratching the back of his head, scrunching his nose up. “This isn’t going to work. We need to start from scratch.” He looks up, and watches me as I sit down next to him. “I think we should do this a little bit differently. My bucket list is too cliche- it’s what you’d expect any 15 year old girl to come up with. Let’s do a 20 before 20.”   
  
“Huh?” Lance pulls a pen out from some concealed pocket inside his coat, magically followed by a tablet. Suddenly I remember  Hermione Granger’s bag from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows… it takes a bit of concentration to hold back my laugh.   
  
“Ooh, good! I can access my wifi from here.” His eyes meet mine, and he grins widely. Looking back at his tablet screen, he presses a button to connect to his wifi. I open up my laptop, and take a quick look at the connectivity page, looking at the list of nearby wifis. It doesn’t take long to work out which one would be Lance’s.   
  
_ Meme Supreme with Extra Cream _ _   
_ _   
_ Dear Lord.   
  
“Okay!” Lance’s voice rings around the open apartment, and I sit up, ready to do something kind of exciting for once in my life. “Since I haven’t written a 20 before 20 either, I will be joining you on this amazing journey. Let’s start brainstorming! KEITH!” I jump in my seat as he turns to me, grabbing my shoulders. “What is your biggest fear?”   
  
“People!” I say it without thinking, and his eyebrows furrow. I can’t tell what thoughts are running through his mind… and for some reason I find myself actually caring what he thinks about this ‘revelation’.  I guess it’s just that I finally have the opportunity to have a friend that isn’t Shiro.   
  
“Well then, let’s fix that!” Lance starts pressing the popup keyboard on his tablet, and scrolling and pausing and reading and smiling. He’s straight to the point, no bullshit… almost the complete opposite to me. If I’m arranging something or learning about something, I will always be participating in an excessive amount of research- nothing is too meticulous or detailed for me. Lance laughs, and looks over at me. “What do think of the idea of giving 100 compliments to random people in one day?”   
  
I laugh, and when he gives a serious look as if expecting an actual answer, I glare at him “Fuck no. You could not make me- no way, no how.”   
  
“Perfect. That’s on your list then!” He laughs evilly, and scribbles into his notebook. Rolling my eyes, I ask him the same question that started this.   
  
“What’s your biggest fear?”   
  
Lance stops writing, and looks into the distance, thinking. “Hmm… probably ghosts. Anything that shouldn’t be real. The thought of sitting alone in the room and then seeing a shadow move-” He shakes, and rubs at his arms. “I’m out. Not for me. I can’t challenge something that can phase through walls to a fight. The simplest hint of something paranormal in my vicinity and you can bet I’m already online booking tickets for the next flight to safety.” He’s shaking his head with his eyes shut, and I can see just how terrified he is of the undead. Perfect.   
  
“Well then, that’s the first thing to add to your 20 before 20. ‘Stay up for 24 hours watching the scariest movies ever.’” When Lance turns to look at me with wide eyes, I know that I’ve struck a nerve. “Fine, if that’s too much for you then we can just camp out at a cemetery for the night?” Lance jumps up, throwing the book and pens at me, backing up until he almost falls off the end of the lounge.   
  
“NOPE NOPE NOPE.”   
  
For the first time in a long time, I start to feel the sting in my stomach from when you laugh too hard. It’s not bad though, it’s nice.   
  
I try to ignore how I subtly slipped in a ‘we’ to our plans for the future.   
  
  


  
\-----   
  


  
  
“C’mon man! 3 more!” I sit up, shaking at Lance, trying to wake him up from whatever alternate reality he’s switching between. He’s been lying in a pile of bedding that I put on the floor for 2 hours now, just scrolling through Pinterest, trying to find something worthwhile to add to our lists. We have both been stuck on 17 for an hour now, and we can’t quite figure where to go from here. “Ground control to Lance, do you read me?”   
  
“Houston…” He sits up, and buries his head in a hippopotamus pillow pet that Shiro bought be as a moving in present last year. “We have so many problems right now.”   
  
I smile, and sit down in the pile next to him. “I have an idea.”   
  
“This had better be good. It’s 1am and I have work tomorrow morning- if you can’t supply me with some worthwhile ideas right now then I don’t think we’ll ever get this done.” He rubs at his eyes, removing any sleep that’s threatening his vision.   
  
“Maybe we could try an hit two birds with one stone.” Lance looks at me now, raising an eyebrow. “You told me that you want to go to Canada and lie in an open field looking at the stars… well- I’ve always wanted to see the northern lights.”   
  
His eyes brighten suddenly, and he grabs his pen and paper that had been abandoned beside him. “Yes! That’s perfect! It’s gonna be hard getting the money to do that- but damn it would be amazing.”   
  
I grin as I realize that he just agreed to go overseas with me. Well, okay. No, he didn’t. We just have a similar interest, and we can both be interested at the same time… if he wants to. I’m not going to force him.   
  
“Okay, two left.” He lies down again, and I join him. We both stare at my ceiling, splattered with glow in the dark stars. They were one of the only things that I could use to personalize the hundreds of rooms that I lived in as a child. Now that I owned my own place, and had a semi-stable income, I was able to afford all the glow in the dark stars that I could dream of. I only had a dozen or so growing up, so having hundreds now was making up for those lost years.   
  
I come back to reality when I feel a tingling sensation at my scalp. I turn to Lance, and see that he has his hand outstretched, and he’s pushing lightly at the end of the hairs on the back of my head. “Have you ever considered a major hair transformation?”   
  
“What are you insinuating?” I start to act offended, making mad hand gestures that you would only expect from a drunk girl trying to get permission to dance on the bar.   
  
That was oddly specific.   
  
“Do you not like my hair? UGH!” I roll my eyes as obviously as possible, and poke his forehead. “You’re BANNED.” Lance’s eyes tear up, and suddenly I realize that he doesn’t think I’m joking. How gullible can you be? “Lance, buddy… it was a joke.”   
  
“I know.” He blinks, and the tears are gone. Damn, how gullible can  _ I  _ be. “You’ve just been pranked by the Prank Patrol.”   
  
“Scotty?” I look around the room, trying to find someone who I know won’t turn up. Lance starts laughing, and I join in. It’s good to have a friend that you can make dumb jokes with.  But it’s also weird finding that friend in the way that I did. I’m not complaining.   
  
Lance eventually gets his cool back, and looks at me seriously. “I was going to say that maybe you could get a major hair change… doesn’t mean you have to cut off your ole’ Billy Ray, you could just dye it or someth-”   
  
“I’ve always wanted a galaxy tint actually.”   
  
He turns to me, surprised. “Tint? Like non-obvious but still there or…?”   
  
“I mean colours that will turn up if you shine light on it, or go out under the sun.” I reach back behind my head, and play with the long hairs there. I do need a cut as it is. “They’re really subtle and relatively cheap… I’ve just never really had the full motivation to get it done.”   
  
Lance is writing again, nodding. “Well congratulations, you just found the motivation. Now, what about my number 19?”   
  
“Isn’t it obvious? I’ve already told you.” Lance looks at me confused, and I try my hardest to keep a straight face as I say it. “Get banned.” A strangled sound escapes my throat, and I start sniggering.   
  
“That’s actually something I’ve always thought would be fun.”   
  
“WHAT?” I turn to him, and push his shoulder. “You’re joking right? How do you get banned? What are you going to get banned from? That is a bad thing… you understand that right?”   
  
Lance shrugs, and turns on his side so that he’s facing me completely. “I’ve always thought that it would be funny to get banned from a shopping center in a different part of town- one that I know I’ll never go to again. Y’know… do something dumb just for the hell of it?”   
  
My mouth is open, staring at him. Now I’m on my side as well, facing him. “You’re a genius. That is the greatest idea ever.”   
  
Lance nods, and does a cheeky side smile. “What can I say, I’m pretty great.”   
  
We stuff around for a little bit long, me telling him all the reasons that he’s the worst person in the world and him doing the same for me. When we’re both starfished out across the span of my living room floor, we say the first thing that comes to our mind for our final addition to the list.   
  
I say something simple, yet extremely important to me. “I want to make the perfect playlist that I can listen to no matter what my mood may be. It just has all the right songs, to make me feel the best I possibly could.” I trace lines between the stars on my roof with my eyes, making imaginary constellations. “Oh, and I want it to have a really edgy title. Like- I want people to look at it and think ‘woah, this must have such a deep meaning to it’, when really it’s just some bullshit that means nothing but sounds cool.”   
  
Lance nods, and chuckles lightly. “I want to learn how to speak German fluently. I can remember being the top of my class during grade school, but I slacked off and now I can only remember the simple sentences. I already know how to speak Spanish- I just want to learn German.” He laughs, and looks at me. “It’s such a violent language! Also, the way you say ‘you’ in German sounds like the word ‘dick’, which is just downright hilarious.”   
  
We both finish writing our last entries, and then read over the final lists. It says a lot about us as people, what’s on our list. The comment we’ve put on each other’s decision also says a lot…    
  
**Keith’s 20 before 20 list**

  1. 100 compliments in one day
  2. Learn to drive (Lance can teach you because he’s better at life ^u^)
  3. Explore your hometown
  4. Go to an actual club (and preferably have fun)
  5. Finish the star chart!
  6. Do a color-run (bring Lance or he’ll murder you)
  7. No budget shopping spree (extra points if it includes National Geographic’s space collections)
  8. Have a proper friend group to go places with
  9. Work part-time (as a barista?)
  10. Host a proper party (only has to have more than 3 people… lower your expectations so the results seem better)
  11. Go offline for a week
  12. Take an odd class
  13. Start a Youtube channel
  14. Get something pierced (yo DICK AYYYE)
  15. Join an online dating site
  16. Place in a competition (participation certificate counts… as mentioned previously, just lower your expectations)
  17. Sell a piece of art
  18. See the northern lights in Canada!
  19. Get galaxy hair (don’t just dream of space… be space)
  20. Make the perfect playlist (+edgy name)



 

**Lance’s 20 before 20 list**

  1. Stay up for 24 hours watching scary movies (rip in pepperonis: lance’s sanity)
  2. Play hide and seek in Ikea
  3. Make a polaroid wall
  4. Dance in the race (are you 12 wtf)
  5. Build the coolest blanket fort ever (okay yep you definitely are)
  6. Own a giant teddy bear
  7. Re-watch OHSHC in one day (don’t subject me to that bukakke you sick fuck) (hEY it’s not like that- it is comedy in its purest form) (n e r d)
  8. Go to a drive-in movie
  9. Spend $1000 in one day
  10. Massive easter egg hunt with nerf guns
  11. Sort out and design the apartment
  12. Have a drunk bake off (with the fire department and ambulance on speed dial)
  13. Own a dog
  14. Own a cat
  15. Get painted nude (wtf.)
  16. Have a friend-date (cause you’re forever alone right?)
  17. Go to a convention (furcon or nah)
  18. Go star-gazing in Canada
  19. Get banned from a store (i’ll actually join you on that one)
  20. Be fluent in German (dick = you)



  
  
  


\-----   
  
  
  
“Keith…”   
  
“Mhhm?” I turn over to look at Lance, to find that he has disappeared beneath one of the sheets I’d lay out for him ages ago.   
  
His voice was a mumble, only just audible through the layers of bedding surrounding him. “It’s been great meeting you, but it’s almost 2 in the morning and I have to be up at 8 tomorrow morning- wait, no… this morning. Shit, what is time?” His head emerges from a gap in the material, and he blinks at me whilst trying to get reaccustomed to the light.   
  
“I could go into the existential meaning of time but I think it’s too late even for that.” I sit up, and stretch out, leaning back against the edge of the lounge we had long since abandoned. I’m used to being up at times like this, sleeping is rare for me. I’ll go to bed early in the am’s, and wake up after a good 4 hours rest. Even then, I’d only sleep maybe 5 times in a week. I do like to take a day off sometimes to just sleep… Shiro calls them the H-Days, the H standing for ‘hibernation’.   
  
“I need to go home.”

“That’s fine.” I stand up, and grab the glasses on the coffee table and the pens and paper strewn across my apartment floor. I’ll clean up the bedding tomorrow. Turning around, I see a wavering Lance trying to make his way to the door, but almost falling over in the process. He’s obviously not hardcore enough to pull a proper all nighter like me. “How about I walk you to your apartment?”   
  
“Thanks Keith.”   
  
  
  
\-----   
  
  
  
We eventually make it to the entrance of his apartment, but not before getting dirty looks from the receptionists. Lance looked drunk and high, and it made me look really bad. Especially since he had come here only yesterday to find out my contacts and name. I just had to cross my fingers that they didn’t think this was one of  _ those  _ situations.   
  
Lance scans his card, and then I support him as we make our way to the lift inside his building. Pressing the ‘7’ button on the control panel, the elevator starts to rise. The boy leaning on my arm sinks into my shoulder, putting his full body weight on me. Note to self- Lance shouldn’t stay up past 1am. The first entry on his 20 before 20 seems almost impossible at this point. We’ll have to work out a way to do it some other day.   
  
We get to the 7th level, and then stumble out to the little hallway. “I’m room B.” Lance murmurs into my ear, and I feel goosebumps raise on my arms and a shiver go down my back. I haven’t had someone this close in a long time. Shiro and I aren’t very touchy, to say the least.   
  
We move at the fastest pace we can manage to Room 7B, and when we get there I pull the keys out of Lance’s coat pocket and turn the lock on his door. Opening the door, Lance immediately stumbles in and disappears into the dark. I invite myself in, turning on the light switch at the entrance.   
  
A single yellow light illuminates the apartment, and reveals a messy studio apartment, much larger than mine, but a lot more full. Cardboard boxes littered almost every flat surface, and random items covered his rug and lounge.   
  
Lance is already in bed, not even bothering to get dressed. I know he would regret that decision in the morning but I also know that there is no point in trying to tell him to get dressed now. He is already out.   
  
“Goodnight Lance.” I whisper into the dead silence, and then turn on my heel to leave. I turn the light off on my way out, and then make my way through the night back to my apartment.   
  
There was no doubt in the world that I had just experienced the strangest night of my life, but there was also no doubt in the universe that I would ever regret it. For once in my life, I want to go outside. I want to meet up with Shiro in the morning, and tell him all about the boy with the light  in his eyes and the dumb ideas in his head. The boy that is going to help me change my life for the better.   
  
For once in my life, I’m excited to be doing something with someone other than myself.   



	3. Buddy Bros

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You know Lance, you’ve turned my world upside down.”  
> ***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KEITHS TATTOO ART: http://miclcey.tumblr.com/post/150028754173/starry-eyes-starry-skies-back-freckles-and  
> TUMBLR TAG: www.tumblr.com/tagged/ficconstellations  
> KEITHS PLAYLIST (updated in time with the chapter updates): https://open.spotify.com/user/mickeyymooo/playlist/5lgqwSAT9MvmkI0pJQzCqD

Waking up the morning after an almost-sleepover with Lance is probably the most disappointing way I have woken up in a long time. I don’t know how to explain the emotion I have… it’s almost like I’m missing the certain energy that he provides whenever he’s around, whether it be within reach or within sight.   
  
My clock showed that it was 8am, and seeing that I bounce out of my bed faster than the speed of light.  I grab an old shirt hanging off one of my desk chairs, and shrug it on whilst running over to the balcony. Once I’ve fully put the shirt on, I move to the very left end of my balcony, allowing me to look into Lance’s apartment.   
  
I can very faintly hear a loud beeping sound, slowly getting to a higher pitch. I know instantly that it was Lance’s alarm clock… but it wasn’t turning off. From what I can see, there is no movement from his bed either. Is he sleeping through the loudest, most obnoxious alarm ever? How?   
  
I run into the kitchen and grab a stepping stool, to move it out the balcony. I place it down on the left side where I was previously standing, and then step up onto it. The view into Lance’s apartment is a lot better now, and I can clearly see that he’s still lying down in bed, wearing the same coat that he had on last night. This is not good.   
  
Running back into the apartment, I grab a hand-held mirror that I keep by my bedside table, and then run back out to the balcony. By tilting the mirror at the perfect angle, I’m able to focus a beam of light through to Lance’s room, and straight onto his bed. Flipping the mirror up and down, the beam goes on and off Lance’s face, and he starts to stir.  I can’t believe this is working.   
  
I start shaking the mirror more and more, and when he sits up I shine it straight onto his face… which coincidentally makes him jump back right off the edge of his bed. I take the mirror down, suppressing a laugh, and watch as his head pops up again a few moments later. His eyes lock with mine, and he grins widely and give me the thumbs up. Yelling something out to me, he starts his morning routine- buzzing with an amount of energy normally unseen before 12pm. I follow in his steps, putting on a proper pair of pants and heading straight to the coffee machine.   
  
I pause, and decide that today is going to be different. Today, I’m  _ actually going to go outside _ .   
  
I pick my phone up from my bedside table, and press Shiro’s contact. The phone starts ringing, before being picked up almost instantly. Shiro’s voice rings out from the opposite end, shaky and concerned.   
  
“Hey Keith! Everything alright? Where are you?”   
  
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” I very rarely ever call Shiro, only if I’m panicking about something or other, or needing his help immediately. It is quite understandable that he would be freaking out over this rare happening. “I was wondering if you wanted to go down to the cafe this morning?”   
  
Complete.  _ Silence.  _   
  
“Uh… Shir-”   
  
“Who are you and where is Keith? Where did you put him? I’m normally not a very violent person but I will not hold back from ruining your  _ entire fuc- _ ”   
  
“Okay okay, I get it… I’m totally okay Takashi.” I rarely call him by his actual name, only if I’m trying to get a point across. Now was one of those times, so it was called for. “I just really wanted to talk to you about something… someone.” I know that saying this is really going to catch his attention, and I know that my goal has been reached when a gasp comes from the receiver.   
  
“Holy shit.” He sounds stunned, and his voice is barely a whisper. “Please don’t tell me you finally-”   
  
“Shut u-”   
  
“DID YOU DO THE SEX?” Shiro is shouting now, calling out a familiar name to someone near him. “Allura, you’re not going to believe this-” Oh god. He does not need to get the gossip queen in on this one.

“I don’t want to kill you but at this rate it looks like you’re going to be disemboweled by 9am.”   
  
“Can I tell Matt?”   
  
“You can tell Matt, but not Allura. She knows too many people.”   
  
“Wait… so you actually had sex or-”   
  
“NO!” I yell into the phone with such aggression that I somehow manage to kick my toe on the kitchen island, and blood starts leaking from one side of my toenail. “FUCK!”   
  
There’s a yell from behind me, and I turn around to see Lance almost hanging off the edge of his balcony. He’s wearing a bathrobe and lion slippers, with a towel wrapped around his head. The most noticeable thing is the green face mask and black patch on his nose. Absolute beauty queen.   
  
He waves at me, looking worried. “Who died?”   
  
There’s more shouting coming from my phone, and Shiro’s voice rings out. “WHO’S THAT?” A faint woman’s voice in the background says, “No way!”.   
  
I consider jumping off the edge of my balcony and free falling into the alley beside me.   
  
“Shiro, meet me at the cafe at 9.30am. Bye!” I hang up before he can say anything else, and then turn around to address the winner of the 2016 Beauty Pageant.    
  
“No one’s dead, yet.” Shiro might be soon. If he has an outburst at the cafe I may be forced to drown all the blood from his body.   
  
Lance shrugs, and waves at me. “Okay, I’m gonna go to work! Talk to you later!” He disappears through the glass doors behind him, but not before I notice the abundance of freckles peppering his back, and the tiniest little lines on his right shoulder blade.   
  
I make a mental note to ask him about that later… actually no. He doesn’t need to know that I was inspecting his back. That’s kinda weird.

 

  
\-----   
  
  
  


I walk into the cafe, and see Shiro instantly. He is sitting in our usual booth at the back of the cafe, from which you have a view of the bar area and street, as well as the two apartments that we live in. He has his whole body turned around and neck craned to see the entry. The bell rings lightly as the door closes behind me and Shiro waves his hand, ushering me over.   
  
“What the hell is going on here?” Shiro motions at my outfit as I sit down, looking the perfect mixture between confused and conflicted. I’m wearing my favourite galaxy shirt with proper black jeans (no tears or anything), and the dressiest coat that I own. Nothing too spectacular, but Shiro knows me well enough to understand that this is dressing up for me. “What changed?”   
  
“I met someone in the weirdest way ever.” I move along in the booth until I’m leaning against the window beside me. “He lives in the apartment opposite me, I’m talking the whole other apartment building, the one between us.”   
  
“What?” Shiro is dumbfounded. You don’t need to be the best at reading faces to know that he is confused beyond belief. I can’t even believe that I met Lance in the way that I did, so it’s totally expecting that this would be Shiro’s initial reaction. “You’re joking, right?”   
  
“Nope.” It is basically just verbal diarrhea from here on. “Basically on Saturday, when I turned down coming here with you, I was sitting out on my balcony and I just see this half naked dude dancing around his apartment like an idiot. I get up and start trying to work out what song he’s dancing to, and he sees me watching him. So I duck down and pretend that I was never watching, but he catches me anyway. It was hectic. Honestly crazy and embarrassing and overall the weirdest thing that had happened in my life… up until yesterday.”   
  
Shiro’s jaw may have been resting on the table at that point. “What happened yesterday?”   
  
“Shiro… he talked to me. We had an actual human conversation.”   
  
“No. Way.” He lifts up his hand to his face, and pretends to wipe a tear away from under his eye. “I’m so proud of you.”   
  
“It get’s better.” Shiro raises and eyebrow, and nods at me to continue. “I invited him over to my apartment to hang out… and we did.”   
  
“N-”   
  
“Wait.” I hold a finger up, almost touching his nose. “He stayed at my place until 2 in the morning. I had to half carry him back to his apartment because he was so worn out from planning our futures together.”   
  
Shiro’s eyes widen, and he gasps. I shouldn’t have worded it in that way.   
  
“You arranged your futures together? That’s some grade school talk Keith, what exactly did you plan?” Suddenly he sits up straight in his chair, and covers his mouth. “Are you guys dating now?” It’s barely audible, but enough to make me hold both hands up in the air as if surrendering.   
  
“Wha- NO!” Some ladies at the booth opposite us turn around, and give me a disapproving glare. Oops. I look down at the table, grabbing one of the napkins and start fiddling around with it. “We’re just friends- neighbors… y’know. Buddy bro-”   
  
“Can I take your order?”   
  
“Ah! Good morning!” Shiro’s voice rings out, taking on his obnoxiously nice persona. “I’ll take a grande caffe latte, quadruple shot with a hint of caramel please! Oh, on skim milk too.”   
  
I keep folding and refolding the napkin as I place my order, mumbling into my hand. I can’t deal with overly bitter coffee, so I order the sugariest drink they have on the menu. “A tall half strength coffee frappuccino with 4 sugars and full-cream milk please… don’t hold back on the cream either.”   
  
“Just checking that was, uh... 4 sugars?”   
  
The waiters are always so judgemental here. “Yeah, thanks.”   
  
“That’s really  _ sweet _ of you.”   
  
Shiro snorts, and foils his laughter with a small cough. I choose that moment to give the waiter, an evil eye, but I’m stopped almost immediately. A familiar freckled face with messy hair- it is still slightly wet- is staring back at me, smiling.   
  
Why does luck forsake me in this way?   
  
“Oh, hey Keith. Just how much cream did you want again?” Lance winks, and my heart stops. I wish I could die right here, in this very moment.   
  
“Who’s this?” Shiro is just sitting there in awkward silence, watching this awkward little interaction going down. Though, it wouldn’t be awkward if I could just speak.   
  
“This is- uh. Lance. Neighbor buddy bro?”   
  
“Woah! Hey there Lance! My name is Takashi, but everyone just calls me Shiro.” Shiro offers up his hand with a grin.   
  
“Ah, so you’re the one that’s keeping this little store in business aye?” Lance laughs, and takes Shiro’s hand, shaking it. What am I witnessing right now?   
  
“That’d be me, yes. I guess you’re currently stealing my good friend Keith from my life?”   
  
_ Shiro… please stop. _ _   
_ __   
“Yep. He’s really cool, you’ve got good taste!” Is he forgetting that I’m right here? “I have to go and put these orders through to the baristas, but it’s cool meeting you! Did you want anything else?”   
  
Shiro pulls out his pocket notebook that he takes with him everywhere, and offers it up to Lance. “Your number maybe?”   
  
“Ah of course!” Lance scribbles down in Shiro’s notebook, before giving it back and disappearing behind the counter. There is complete silence between us for about a minute, while I sit and compute everything that just went down.

  
“What the  _ living fuck _ was that?”   
  
“You made a friend! Keith, I’m so proud of you! I know how hard it can be for you to get yourself out there and into to world but you have really-”   
  
“Shi-”   
  
“-upped your game this time! Lance seems really cool, and he’s great at puns. That’s always a plus in my books.”   
  
I can’t believe that all of this is happening right now, in this moment. Shiro sitting opposite me in the cafe, looking like the proudest dad on earth, and Lance watching me and smiling from behind the counter to my right. It’s unreal how quick my whole life has changed in the space of just 2 days… I know it’s going to take a while to get used to, but I also know for sure that this is for the best. It’s what I really need in life. Shiro was my only friend until I met Lance, and at the age of 17 that’s not a normal thing.   
  
Even then, Shiro has other friends that he needs to hang out with, he can’t just stick around with me solely. That’s not how life works. He’s needs to spend time with his girlfriend and best-friend… I can no longer depend on him completely to be my main source of human contact every other week.   
  
I don’t even need to depend on him anymore. I have Lance now, and hopefully we can spend a lot more time together, he’s a good person to be around. Having friends is important to me, I just never realised it. Now that Lance is a part of my life, I’m going to make sure that he stays part of it. No more disassociation for me.   
  
Me and Shiro spend the rest of the morning in the cafe talking about life currently and sipping at our drinks. I tell him all about my 20 before 20 list. He’s so proud of me… it’s kind of scary. He makes multiple comments about how it’s good for me to have a reason to leave my apartment. I know that I needed this.   
  
As we leave the cafe, I stop at the counter to pay the bill and talk to Lance quickly. He’s stacking mugs and folding tea-towels, and he looks so content and happy; it’s not what I expected he would find joy in doing. He stops what he’s doing when he sees me, and walks over to the register.   
  
“So, that will be 13 dollars with the discount!” Lance holds out his hand, and I place a 20 dollar note on it.   
  
“Discount? I’m that special?” I poke my tongue out at him, and he laughs.    
  
“Don’t get too up yourself. It’s because Shiro’s a regular here, so we normally give him a discount. I’m including your order today because I feel extra nice.” Lance presses a few buttons on the screen, and the till pops out. He puts 7 dollars in my hand, and then leans over the counter to talk to me, probably in the hope of his colleagues not hearing him talk to me. His hand is resting on mine, the only thing stopping full contact being the 7 dollars. “I finish at 3pm, can I come to yours after? I wanted to do some planning with you, for  _ later _ .”   
  
My hair stands on end, and my breathing stops. He’s really close to me, and the cheeky grin he has on his face makes my mind wander. Planning? For what? It clicks in my head; he’s referring to the list obviously. I’m such a dumbass.   
  
“Y-Yeah, of course. I’ll see you then. Bye!” I back up, almost tripping over my own feet, as I turn around and burst through the exit of the cafe. Shiro’s standing beside the door, leaning against the wall casually. His head snaps to me when I stand straight against wall beside beside him.    
  
“Keith…  is everything okay?” Shiro’s eyebrows are furrowed, and he’s looking at me like I just announced the craziest news of the century.   
  
“I’m fine. Totally fine.”   
  
“What happened in there?” He touches my forehead, and retracts quickly shaking his finger. “Oh my god, it’s like you just ran a marathon! You’re all red and sweaty! What the hell did I miss?”   
  
“Literally nothing.” I wipe the back of my hand on my forehead, and feel just how much I’m sweating… which is a lot. I give the 7 dollars in my hand to Shiro, who stuffs it straight into his pocket. “I was just organising with Lance for him to come over later-”   
  
“Holy shit.” Shiro’s eyes widen, and the frown that he had just before turns into an evil grin. “No way. You have the hots for Lance.”   
  
“Oh my god Shiro, no I don’t. I just don’t have people asking to come over to my place very often, apart from you. It was frightening for me.” I push off the wall and walk to the edge of the street, standing at one end of the crossing. Cars fly past me at break-neck speed, the air coming from behind them a welcome breeze to my face. There is no way that I have ‘the hots’ for Lance, I only properly met him yesterday. I’m just getting used to all this socialization bullshit.   
  
Shiro laughs and walks up behind me, clapping me on the back. “Whatever you say. This must be quite different for you.”

“You have no fucking idea.”   
  
  
\-----   
  
  
  
I spend the next three hours at my apartment preparing for Lance to arrive, buzzing around and cleaning up the place. The wreckage from last night is the biggest mess that my apartment has ever seen… there’s empty crisp packets littering the floor and crumbs on every flat surface. The bedding is now dirty, so I’m going to have to spend a day just doing laundry in order to get them out of the way. I pile them into the empty guest bedroom where I put everything, and decide to leave that problem for a another day.   
  
By the time that the apartment is clean, it’s 2.50pm. Lance would be finishing up his shift in 10 minutes, and from there he’ll have to get dressed and get to my apartment, so I have some spare time. I take the chance to review the list made last night, since I hadn’t read it since then. Looking through it I notice that there are 3 categories that I can put each goal into; anyday, future and set day.   
  
The anyday things are the simplest ones to complete, they can be done on the fly easily, not preparation or prior thought needs to be put into them in order to achieve it. However, there are very few items on this list. I can join an online dating site in less than half and hour, so that’s on the list. I can make the perfect playlist quite easily, though that might take a bit longer than a day, I would add to it constantly, it’s just not a very hard thing to do. I can get something pierced or dye my hair on the fly, though I might want some kind of preparation for that. I also count finishing the star chart on this list… I get closer to that goal almost everyday.

The future goals are going to be the hardest to complete, they will take a lot of effort, thought and planning. These ones are learning to drive and getting a job as a barista (which I have always wanted to do part-time). Future goals also include anything that means I have to have massive amounts of money to complete, for example the no-budget shopping spree. Going to Canada is going to cost quite a bit, as well as visiting my home-town… which is on the other side of the world- in Japan. Thats where I was born, my mother was Japanese and my father was Korean. I was raised in the Chiba prefecture for 7 years before being taken here, America, to continue my education.   
  
Going to Japan is going to cost insane amounts of money, so that is definitely going on the future list.   
  
Then, there is the set day plans. These are easy to complete, apart from the planning which will take a bit more time. Everything else on the list fits pretty much perfectly into that box; they could take hours, days or months to organise and complete.   
  
If I want to achieve every single goal I’ve set myself for the next 2 and a half years, then I need to start working as soon as possible. And the best place to start is somewhere easy, which for me is the idea of making the best playlist in the history of forever.   
  
Okay, it’s probably not going to turn out that great, but it’s worth a shot. Aim for the moon and land in stars. Though that is astronomically incorrect due to there being no possible stars to land on in the distance between the Earth and the Moon… so I guess I should say aim for the stars and land on the moon.   
  
Wow I need a life.

Out of nowhere the door to my apartment is flung open, and Lance walks in wearing skinny jeans, an oversized white top with moon phases on it, and a NASA bomber jacket. “What’s up space trash?”   
  
“Nothing much star shit.”    
  
Lance jumps straight onto my couch, quickly getting into a comfortable position. I sit on the ground just below him, leaning back on the edge of the pillows staring at my star chart. “We need to talk-”   
  
It’s as if the world stops turning and every country goes silent. There is nothing for a split second, then he continues.   
  
“- about the playlist. What’s the name gonna be?”   
  
I can breathe again, everything is fine. I’m so worried that he’s going to push me away at any moment because he realises just the type of person I am. He already seems to know all the small things about me, and readily accepts them, but he doesn’t know what happened in order to shape me into the person that I am today.   
  
He doesn’t know about my parents, my past, my education, my current position in life… he doesn’t know any of the important stuff. He doesn’t need to know a lot of it for now. It should be fine keeping it a secret. I’ll just make sure that I don’t stoop so low as to lie to him, that would be wrong. Especially since I want to keep in him my life… in a friend way of course.   
  
As for his question, I knew what my answer was. I’ve spent a lot of time pondering it. “I want to name mine ‘a galaxy full of constellations’.”    
  
“No way.” Lance spins around so his head is resting on my shoulder, his legs dangling in the air, supported by the back of the lounge. “I’m going to name mine ‘a sky full of stars.”   
  
“I didn’t even know you were going to make a playlist.” So we are teaming up for some of our goals… I’m not against that idea. It makes it more fun- a competition almost- and I’m always down for some friendly competitiveness.   
  
“Well, I wanted to share some thought on how we should do it actually.” Suddenly Lance rolls forward off the couch, doing a little somersault and landing beside me. “I wrote up a little thing during my break today, I’ll summarise what my idea is- hold on.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone, unlocking it and then opening the notes app… then he rests his head on my shoulder, and lies down comfortably half on top of me.   
  
I haven’t had this much physical contact since primary school dance classes.   
  
“So I was thinking we could only add songs when they are really important to us, and deemed appropriate to describe an emotion or happening.”   
  
“What?” I’m completely dumbfounded, and I can’t can’t even begin to try and piece together what he just said. Whether it be his overall syntax, or the weight on my right side from his overall presence, there is something drawing my concentration away from the words he’s speaking.   
  
“I mean the songs we add to the playlist should have a meaning. For example, if we go to a karaoke bar and sing a song together, and we get the highest score recorded, then we should add the song to the playlists. Because it is important to us.”   
  
“That’s really sappy.” It sounds mean now that I’ve said it, and Lance drooping more on my shoulder makes me feel bad. He’s taking it badly. “It a really cool idea though. It means that when we listen back to the playlist we’ll be remembered of all those times… it’s sappy but in a good way I guess.” I can already feel the pull of Lance’s cheeks on my shoulder as he grins; it makes me feel less bad about shutting him down.   
  
“I was also thinking that we keep the songs on the playlist a secret, so that we can only reveal it to each other once we’re both 20.” Lance pauses and taps the screen of his phone. “Oh, we should also add songs that describe any emotions that we might be feeling, I love doing that. I have a playlist that’s just depressing songs. I’ve been building it up so that I can listen to it on repeat for a month when Naruto ends.”   
  
_ Dumbass? _ _   
_ _   
_ He’s still refusing to fit into my two categories. He’s a fence sitter, the annoying middle ground. He needs to stop. Without the knowledge that he’s doing it, he’s changing my life and the way that I look at it. I’m still trying to work out how I feel about this; trying to work out if it’s a positive or a negative. At the moment it’s looking like a positive, but something’s tell me that all my issues and anxiety is going to find a way to make everything a negative. That’s what it normally does.   
  
“You know Lance, you’ve turned my world upside down.”   
  
I didn’t mean to say it, but it needed to be said. Something in his facial expression tells me that he already knows the impact he is having on me.   
  
“Thank you; for two things.” I’m not expecting him to reply, but for some reason I want to hear his thoughts on how life has changed. “One, for changing my life as well. You’re an amazing person, you know?” Well,  _ fuck _ . “Two, thank you for telling me the first song we should add to the playlists.”   
  
“Huh?”   
  
“ __ Now this is the story all about how, my life got flipped, turned upside down… ”   
  
“LANCE NO-”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> || AUTHOR NOTES ||  
> i haven't said anything in the notes up until now, so i thought i'd say hi to all the readers!
> 
> my name is mickey, and i've been writing for a little while now. its just a hobby of mine really, but i reaaally enjoy it so i do it in masses. i've written plenty of fics for attack on titan, and this is my first fic for voltron:ld. i am COMPLETE klance trash- its taking over my tumblr (miclcey) at the moment (sorry to anyone who follows me)
> 
> also this is the quickest a fic of mine has gotten kudos/hits so THANK YOU ALL <3
> 
> P.S i'm sorry if i use bad wording or incorrect sentence structure at times, !!!!english is not my first language!!!!. i try my hardest though.
> 
>  
> 
> || UP AND COMING NOTES ||  
> next chapter is going to be memery galore, basically just hilarity thanks to space dad, also the introduction of pidge and hunk (and possible other characters, i'll see how long it goes first hehe)
> 
> SEE YOU ALL IN THE NEXT CHAPTER, I'M GONNA REPLY TO COMMENTS NOW BYE


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